Douglas, Happy, Sigh, Shade and I went to the ruins this morning and spent a couple hours of sloth just kicking about the vicinity of the ruins and doing things like pealing bark off tree trunks and looking for moles and shrews. It was simply a lazy morning. I sat on the marble steps that lead up to the now missing front porch of the old house and sat down. Happy graced me with her presence while the two ramblers, Douglas and Shade sought out squirrels and other adventure. Sigh just sat and waited over by two huge trees to our right. Nothing bothers her. She is on her own planet in another world. She's very old and has earned the right to do whatever she feels like. I help her anyway I can. It is very peaceful down at that place and I can think with an uncluttered mind. It's amazing how thoughts pop into my head when I am out of the social atmosphere. I immediately thought about what has happened in my life up until now. Topics relating to my life have been floating in and out of my thought processes a lot lately. Never, until I moved down here from Pennsylvania. I wondered why. And It all came together.
I have had relatively good luck with well paying jobs my entire life. Industry management has been my background ever since the seventies when Volkswagen Of America produced cars in New Stanton, Pennsylvania. Even before that, after a return from the Vietnam "conflict", I worked in factories, like most folks, as a line worker. But Volkswagen gave me my first real management break. I grabbed it and held on tight and studied hard. The principles of management apply universally to any industry. So how does all this background apply to this day at the ruins and how does it have any affect on my life now?
As I said before I have been fortunate to have fairly good jobs while working in industry. Four years ago I abruptly severed my tenure with a company I had been with for twelve years. I was simply burned out. A plant manager's position proved to be stressful to the point of affecting my personal life. I felt that if I was going to seek another job in Pennsylvania; I may as well move to an area with a better climate. I have taken many motorcycle rides to Tennessee over the last forty years and Tennessee would be my destination. However, my attempts at securing an industrial job in supervision proved difficult. Actually it proved impossible. I am over sixty years old and that has proved to be a hurtle I can not overcome. Age does make an employment difference! That's ok. I have had some great employment experiences while here. TWRA is an experience I would not trade for anything on this planet. My current place of employment, Smoky Mt. Harley Davidson & Buell, is the finest motorcycle dealership, I feel, in the United States. So what's this blog entry all about? Why the constant personal mental harassment?
I have been trying to understand why I have turned out the way I have. I used to buy what I wanted when I wanted. I went out to restaurants for dinner, went to social functions, hung out with friends, went to motorcycle rallies, had nice cars and had some really nice girl friends. Now, I can't stand to go to cities, drive four lane roads, deal with any traffic and enjoy the company of dogs. I met the finest lady in the world and ruined that. I can lay back in the leaves and stare at the sky and listen to the lapping water on the shore of the lake and ponder what I'm all about. I would rather be with my dog friends than human friends. I have acquired an intense interest in history and an even more intense concern about the natural world. Man has proven to be a poor steward of the natural things around him and the planet in general. And man will eventually ruin it all. However, I feel richer since I moved to Tennessee than when I made great money in Pennsylvania. Oh, I miss my friends, and my seventy year old cousin in Scottdale, Pennsylvania. But I feel much at peace here; now. Why? I do not own a house. I'm not even sure where I'll be living this summer. I have to leave this warehouse room I am living in now this summer. I do not have near the income I had in Pennsylvania. I used to drive current cars or trucks. I drive a 1991 Ford pickup truck down here. I met a fine lady here in Tennessee and lost her. All my fault. Greedy with my time. The reason, I believe, is that I brought my "can do it all by myself attitude" with me to this new life. I have been a loner all my life, but this new environment I have entered has allowed me to grow my character and desire for change. The realization of this has been too late to save a fine loving relationship. Greedy with my time and a loner mentality quashed
a great relationship with a great lady. I always have been a late responder in areas of relationships. It is my tragic loss.
I have time to think. I think about history. I think about wildlife. There is time to allow the beauty of the wilderness to permeate the inner fiber of me. Being alone, I camp on islands, capture pictures of wildlife, ride out the storms that appear on the lakes while more sane people scramble for the boat docks. I don't have to drive the newest cars. I don't need the finest clothes. No one cares here. I don't have the income to buy what I want when I want it. I am limited. My efforts to buy and acquire are diverted toward more sensible things that really matter. I have acquired a great respect for dogs. History; nature. I have stood on the spot where the first inhabitants in Tennessee made their start. My feet have touched the sacred ground where the trail of tear's commenced. I can visit ancient properties dating back to pre Tennessee times when Tennessee was a territory inhabited by Cherokee's. My heart breaks each time I see bull dozer's push Tennessee's history into heaps of dirt in preparation for developement. History is important and I do not believe it receives enough emphasis in schools. History is our heritage and It is not sacred here in Tennessee. It is not even held in very high esteem at all. The dollar is the sacred item that is coveted at the expense of all that is natural.
I find it amazing that in four short years my interest's have been altered from a success oriented life to that of a laid back, environmentally concerned person who is disgusted with the lack of political involvement involving things natural and historical. Lonesome I am and probably always will be. It's my own doing. I've had my chance to change that and blew it. But I am richer for this Tennessee experience. I believe I have found myself. Not my purpose. But I understand myself better, I believe. It is a evolvement that, I think, a young person can not accomplish. One has to have lived and experienced life in order to arrive at the conclusions I have. By the way; I discovered from an old history buff that the Tuskeegee Plantation, better known as the McGee/Carson house was not burned by hippies in 1986. The park service acquired the property from TVA in 1987 and decided to convert it into a park headquarters. They put the electric power to it before an inspection was completed. It instantly burned. History. The people who live here don't even know that. I wonder what political movement will destroy this beautiful area I call the ruins. The Tuskeegee Plantation; once a beautiful plantation before the Civil War. Then used as a Confederate Headquarters one year into the war. The Union drove out the Confederates after a rather harsh battle and they used it as an outpost for seven months. Blood ran free on that property. Maybe a new Rarity development of some sort will benefit the county by obliterating that old useless ruin's area. Good for jobs. Just doing some mental rambling here. It's something to do.
Friday, January 4, 2008
ENLIGHTENMENT - Thoughts on Life
Douglas, Happy, Sigh, Shade and I went to the ruins this morning and spent a couple hours of sloth just kicking about the vicinity of the ruins and doing things like pealing bark off tree trunks and looking for moles and shrews. It was simply a lazy morning. I sat on the marble steps that lead up to the now missing front porch of the old house and sat down. Happy graced me with her presence while the two ramblers, Douglas and Shade sought out squirrels and other adventure. Sigh just sat and waited over by two huge trees to our right. Nothing bothers her. She is on her own planet in another world. She's very old and has earned the right to do whatever she feels like. I help her anyway I can. It is very peaceful down at that place and I can think with an uncluttered mind. It's amazing how thoughts pop into my head when I am out of the social atmosphere. I immediately thought about what has happened in my life up until now. Topics relating to my life have been floating in and out of my thought processes a lot lately. Never, until I moved down here from Pennsylvania. I wondered why. And It all came together.
I have had relatively good luck with well paying jobs my entire life. Industry management has been my background ever since the seventies when Volkswagen Of America produced cars in New Stanton, Pennsylvania. Even before that, after a return from the Vietnam "conflict", I worked in factories, like most folks, as a line worker. But Volkswagen gave me my first real management break. I grabbed it and held on tight and studied hard. The principles of management apply universally to any industry. So how does all this background apply to this day at the ruins and how does it have any affect on my life now?
As I said before I have been fortunate to have fairly good jobs while working in industry. Four years ago I abruptly severed my tenure with a company I had been with for twelve years. I was simply burned out. A plant manager's position proved to be stressful to the point of affecting my personal life. I felt that if I was going to seek another job in Pennsylvania; I may as well move to an area with a better climate. I have taken many motorcycle rides to Tennessee over the last forty years and Tennessee would be my destination. However, my attempts at securing an industrial job in supervision proved difficult. Actually it proved impossible. I am over sixty years old and that has proved to be a hurtle I can not overcome. Age does make an employment difference! That's ok. I have had some great employment experiences while here. TWRA is an experience I would not trade for anything on this planet. My current place of employment, Smoky Mt. Harley Davidson & Buell, is the finest motorcycle dealership, I feel, in the United States. So what's this blog entry all about? Why the constant personal mental harassment?
I have been trying to understand why I have turned out the way I have. I used to buy what I wanted when I wanted. I went out to restaurants for dinner, went to social functions, hung out with friends, went to motorcycle rallies, had nice cars and had some really nice girl friends. Now, I can't stand to go to cities, drive four lane roads, deal with any traffic and enjoy the company of dogs. I met the finest lady in the world and ruined that. I can lay back in the leaves and stare at the sky and listen to the lapping water on the shore of the lake and ponder what I'm all about. I would rather be with my dog friends than human friends. I have acquired an intense interest in history and an even more intense concern about the natural world. Man has proven to be a poor steward of the natural things around him and the planet in general. And man will eventually ruin it all. However, I feel richer since I moved to Tennessee than when I made great money in Pennsylvania. Oh, I miss my friends, and my seventy year old cousin in Scottdale, Pennsylvania. But I feel much at peace here; now. Why? I do not own a house. I'm not even sure where I'll be living this summer. I have to leave this warehouse room I am living in now this summer. I do not have near the income I had in Pennsylvania. I used to drive current cars or trucks. I drive a 1991 Ford pickup truck down here. I met a fine lady here in Tennessee and lost her. All my fault. Greedy with my time. The reason, I believe, is that I brought my "can do it all by myself attitude" with me to this new life. I have been a loner all my life, but this new environment I have entered has allowed me to grow my character and desire for change. The realization of this has been too late to save a fine loving relationship. Greedy with my time and a loner mentality quashed
a great relationship with a great lady. I always have been a late responder in areas of relationships. It is my tragic loss.
I have time to think. I think about history. I think about wildlife. There is time to allow the beauty of the wilderness to permeate the inner fiber of me. Being alone, I camp on islands, capture pictures of wildlife, ride out the storms that appear on the lakes while more sane people scramble for the boat docks. I don't have to drive the newest cars. I don't need the finest clothes. No one cares here. I don't have the income to buy what I want when I want it. I am limited. My efforts to buy and acquire are diverted toward more sensible things that really matter. I have acquired a great respect for dogs. History; nature. I have stood on the spot where the first inhabitants in Tennessee made their start. My feet have touched the sacred ground where the trail of tear's commenced. I can visit ancient properties dating back to pre Tennessee times when Tennessee was a territory inhabited by Cherokee's. My heart breaks each time I see bull dozer's push Tennessee's history into heaps of dirt in preparation for developement. History is important and I do not believe it receives enough emphasis in schools. History is our heritage and It is not sacred here in Tennessee. It is not even held in very high esteem at all. The dollar is the sacred item that is coveted at the expense of all that is natural.
I find it amazing that in four short years my interest's have been altered from a success oriented life to that of a laid back, environmentally concerned person who is disgusted with the lack of political involvement involving things natural and historical. Lonesome I am and probably always will be. It's my own doing. I've had my chance to change that and blew it. But I am richer for this Tennessee experience. I believe I have found myself. Not my purpose. But I understand myself better, I believe. It is a evolvement that, I think, a young person can not accomplish. One has to have lived and experienced life in order to arrive at the conclusions I have. By the way; I discovered from an old history buff that the Tuskeegee Plantation, better known as the McGee/Carson house was not burned by hippies in 1986. The park service acquired the property from TVA in 1987 and decided to convert it into a park headquarters. They put the electric power to it before an inspection was completed. It instantly burned. History. The people who live here don't even know that. I wonder what political movement will destroy this beautiful area I call the ruins. The Tuskeegee Plantation; once a beautiful plantation before the Civil War. Then used as a Confederate Headquarters one year into the war. The Union drove out the Confederates after a rather harsh battle and they used it as an outpost for seven months. Blood ran free on that property. Maybe a new Rarity development of some sort will benefit the county by obliterating that old useless ruin's area. Good for jobs. Just doing some mental rambling here. It's something to do.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
ELEPHANT SANCTUARY
There is nothing I can write about this place that the web site hasn't covered. This is an amazing habitat, for an amazing animal. Please, thoroughly enjoy this inspiring site. http://www.elephants.com/females.htm Copy and Paste.
Friday, November 30, 2007
POLITICAL OBSERVATION
It's 3:30PM Friday and I took Sigh, Douglas, Happy and Shade down to the ruins for some fresh air. A really bad cold with flu like symptoms hit me yesterday at work and I awakened this morning at 3:00AM feeling terrible. Couldn't get back to sleep. I talked to Douglas for a little while and he seemed to think I should just put him in the truck and get out in the woods. He always has that opinion. But I feel better today, especially since I'm here at the ruins site with my friends. The sky is blue and not a breeze is stirring. I can hear where the dogs are by listening to the crunching leaves. Gorgeous day!
I am not usually very vocal about political thoughts but there is something that has me wondering and a bit concerned. I'm not sure anyone has thought about it. Our Southern border is wide open. Everyone knows that. We have all heard the rhetoric directed to higher health care, escalating education costs, fewer jobs, social security depletion, and much more due to the influx of "millions" of Mexican illegals. I use the term illegals purposely. They are not immigrants. They are not migrants. They are not second class citizens. They are not even any kind of citizens. They are illegal persons who have crept across the border of our United States of America. Anyway; Picture this.
Envision a clear gallon container filled with water. That's 128 ounces. Then empty an eye dropper of blue dye into the water. Not much difference. Now, empty half a pint of blue dye into the gallon of water. The water becomes stained. It is tainted. Pretend the blue dye is Mexicans and the gallon of water the United States. This exercise is not about money or border lines on a map. This has to do with our way of life. You see, the more Mexicans who infiltrate our population, the more influential they're customs and traditions will be upon the American traditions and customs and OUR heritage. The problem will materialize, I believe, when the American government will institute changes in our systems in order to compensate for the foreign influx of aliens. For instance; already there is talk of creating a Mexican Independence Day in the U.S. New Mexico and Colorado Mexican residence's are already suing government for the right to hang their Mexican flag along side of Old Glory. A little bit at a time and a piece at a time; a melding of heritages will occur until the purity of the heritage that our nation is built upon will be eroded and be reconstructed into a new blend of Mexamerican tradition. The greater the Mexican population (blue dye) the greater the influence on our heritage. Our politicians are already changing the tone of this country as when addressing the immigrant situation. Listen to them. I'm hearing "let them stay" and "grant them amnesty." Why? Why? Theodore Roosevelt stood on a table in a square in New York one chilly day and addressed the crowd about him. He said "our door is open to any honest man or woman who wants to come in, but they will do it legally." "There is but one flag; the American Flag in this country." "The spoken word in the United States of America is English; learn it." "There are not French Americans, Russian Americans, Polish Americans or any foreign Americans of any kind." "The United States citizens are Americans period."
Now, think of what has happened since Teddy's speech. Any problems using the word Christmas to describe that holiday? How about Thanksgiving? Oh, where have all the Christian murals gone in front of government buildings? When have you heard the pledge of allegiance lately. How about wishing everyone Happy Holidays. This all goes beyond political correctness. Political correctness can never be exacted in a perfectly uniform fashion. Never ever! The term political correctness, I believe, is a cop out for politicians who do not want to stand their ground and demand the term American be accepted by all who live here. African American, Polish American etc. That something to be proud of personally. But this is America. Not Poland and not Africa. Those people are Americans period. Nothing else. Our politicians have sold all Americans short on that topic. What's wrong with pledging allegiance to the American Flag? If your an American you should be proud to. So who are all these people who don't want to? If anyone wishes to enter this country, I feel exactly as Teddy Roosevelt did when he made that speech. I feel they should accept the social and traditional environment as it exists in OUR country. Or stay out. But there is a slow process going on that is undermining our traditions and heritage and it has reached our education processes and that plants the seed of change in our children; the future of this country. You can take that to the bank....
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
TO ANONYMOUS
I DISCOVERED YOUR COMMENT ABOUT LIKING MY STORIES. THE COMMENT WAS MADE A LONG TIME AGO. AS I SAID, I ONLY DISCOVERED IT JUST NOW. I WANT TO SAY THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO LEAVE THAT MESSAGE. I APPRECIATE YOU FOR LOVING NATURE. I APPRECIATE YOU CARING ABOUT THE IMPORTANT THINGS ON THIS PLANET. I APPRECIATE YOU. THANKS AGAIN FOR THE NICE COMMENT. GARY
Sunday, November 25, 2007
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